Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Jesse Benton Impact?

Mitch McConnell is the most unpopular Senator in the country. Only 37% of Kentucky voters approve of him to 55% disapprove. Both in terms of raw disapproval (55%) and net approval (-18) McConnell has the worst numbers of any of his peers, reports Public Policy Polling.

McConnell is predictably very unpopular with Democrats (23/73). But his numbers are almost as bad with independents (33/58) and even with Republicans he's well below the 70-80% approval range you would usually expect for a Senator within their own party (59/28).

Kentucky is a tough state for Democrats- but given how unpopular McConnell is and the lack of other opportunities for the party to play offense in 2014, this should be a race to watch says PPP.

7 comments:

As libertarian as I am, I would vote for Ben Chandler for senator before voting for Mitch again. I would vote for Conway in a heartbeat. The man is everything that's wrong with Louisville politics, and I wouldn't cry a single tear if he had to retire.

The thing about Benton is that he was never good. Which is to say that he never came across as someone who was confident in what he was doing and the results showed that. That makes is all the weirder that someone from the top tier (I guess) would be interested in Benton.Unless, of course, the fix (again Ron Paul) was in from the start. And this is quid pro quo.

Your observation is DEAD center. Benton can only throw bombs and divide people. He doesn't grasp the smallest detail about a winning campaign at any level. Were it not for the umbilical provided by Ron Paul, Benton would have never registered on the radar screen as a political consultant/adviser/whatever. He has no imagination and no BALLS.

Amash has been pretty good, compared to the rest of the 435 Mafia. He's made about two mistakes; one, voted for an Israel support package (I think), and two, this "everything on the table" statement.

Let's not be in such a rush to eat our own, folks. The guy's just finishing his freshman term. He's in his early 30s. He has enormous pressure on him from the most powerful people in the world. He's going to make mistakes.

The thing is, Amash is a giant step in the right direction. Sure, castigate him for straying from the straight and narrow path, but let's not write him off as a statist just yet.

Remember, it's easy to be a purist when we're sitting comfortable at the keyboard. It's a different world when you're inside the beltway, fellas.

It's not a mistake until he admits it. Until then it's a conscious decision, not a mistake.

"Remember, it's easy to be a purist when we're sitting comfortable at the keyboard. It's a different world when you're inside the beltway, fellas."

Nobody forced him to be inside the beltway.Ron Paul has proven being at least close to being a purist is perfectly doable. Of course, Amash may think winning is more important than standing for something, in which case you can expect him to betray principles much more often, since that is what he needs to do to win.

We don't have "faith" in politicians and we don't give them the benefit of the doubt. It's up to him to prove he deserves to be embraced. Right now, it's not looking good for him.